Bridal Veil Falls - DuPont State Recreational Forest

Bridal Veil Falls on the Little River in the DuPont State Recreational Forest of North Carolina is more of a slide than a prototypical waterfall. The river drops about 120 feet over an 800 foot run across a large slab of rock. This is the uppermost of the four named waterfalls on the Little River. Layers of the rock slab have broken off and slid to the base of the falls. This allows the river to flow under the unattached rocks and seemingly disappear for a short distance.

A visit to the waterfall requires either a 4.2 mile round trip hike from the Fawn Lake parking lot on Reasonover Road. The parking area is 2.8 miles east of the end of Reasonover Road at Cascade Lake Road in the community of Cedar Mountain, North Carolina. This hike descends over 200 feet from the parking area to the falls.

The second route to reach the falls is a 4.6 mile round trip hike from the Visitor Center on Staton Road. While there are hills along this route, the net elevation change is negligible and the biggest hill is only 60 feet high. The route follows a series of signed gravel roads in the forest before an 800 foot long trail leads to the base of the falls. From the visitor center parking area, hike east 0.6 miles on Buck Forest Road. Along the way, use the walk around at the electric gate, climb and descend the "big" hill and cross Little River on the covered bridge. After 0.6 miles, turn right on Conservation Road and hike 1.1 miles passing over the Lake Julia Spillway in about ½ mile. Ignore the first unsigned road to the right about one mile along Conservation Road (1.55 miles from the visitor center). At 1.1 miles (1.7 miles from the visitor center), turn right onto the signed Bridal Veil Falls Road. Hike ½ mile to the end of the road and find the trail at the middle of the turnaround. Follow the trail to the falls. I hiked to Bridal Veil Falls in July 2017.

Topographic map with GPS route

Exaggerated elevation profile

Gate across Buck Forest Road

Upper end of Triple Falls Trail

Covered bridge over Little River

Little River at the brink of High Falls

Intersection of Buck Forest and Conservation roads

Second bridge on the route

Julia Dam spillway

Reconstructed creekbed

The unsigned road

Field of wildflowers

Bridal Veil Falls Road

A much narrower lane

Paddock

Picnic tables and barn near the paddock

End of Bridal Veil Falls Road

Picnic table at the turnaround

Trailhead

Trail surface is gravel

Overlook

Obstructed view from the overlook

Switchback to descend toward base of the falls

Bike rack

Rock hop required to get to the falls

Rocks and roots at the base

Bridal Veil Falls

A closer view

Entry to DuPont State Recreational Forest is free.

The friends of the forest website is http://www.dupontforest.com/.
The forest website is http://www.ncforestservice.gov/Contacts/dsf.htm.